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Note: This product bulletin describes the new support timeline for Cisco IOS® XE releases starting with Cisco IOS XE Software Release 3.10S and later. For the support timeline of previous Cisco IOS XE Software releases, please refer to the guidelines here.

Revised: December, 2012

Introduction

This product bulletin describes the support timeline and end-of-life guidelines for Cisco IOS
® XE Software on the Cisco
® ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Router.

Cisco IOS XE Software is a time and feature based release. Consequently, these end-of-sale and end-of-life guidelines of the Cisco IOS XE Software differ from the guidelines of other traditional Cisco IOS Software releases. This product bulletin outlines these differences and describes the standard end-of-sale and end-of-life milestones.

Cisco IOS XE Software Release

The architecture of the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Router is designed with In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) capabilities. End users can usually perform hitless software upgrades while the system is in service.

The Cisco IOS XE Software releases are time-based, each with a fixed release date, as opposed to a variable release date. The schedule specifies three individual software releases at 4-month intervals within a 12-month cycle.

Cisco IOS XE Software Support

Each Cisco IOS XE Software release is classified as either a Standard-Support or Extended-Support release. A Standard-Support release has a sustaining support lifetime of 18 months from first customer shipment (FCS) with three scheduled rebuilds. The timing of these rebuilds is typically released at 3-, 3-, and 6-month intervals after FCS of the affected Cisco IOS XE Software release.

The Extended-Support release provides a sustaining support lifetime of 48 months from FCS with eight scheduled rebuilds. The timing of these rebuilds is typically released at 3-, 3-, 4-, 4-, 4-, 6-, 6-, and 6-month intervals after FCS of the affected Cisco IOS XE Software release.

Cisco makes no commitment to introduce software fixes to the affected Cisco IOS XE Software release after the final planned rebuild release.

Software problems found after the final rebuild release will be fixed in a subsequent major Cisco IOS XE Software release. An exception may arise to address mission-critical, high-severity software fixes and security vulnerabilities, possibly resulting in an additional rebuild release after the final scheduled rebuild date (but before the end-of-software maintenance milestone) on an as-needed basis at the discretion of Cisco. No software fixes will be introduced to the affected Cisco IOS XE Software release after the end-of-vulnerability and security milestone.

After the end-of-vulnerability and security milestone, the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) will provide customer support on the affected Cisco IOS XE Software release within the guidelines set by existing Cisco end-of-life policies at the end-of-software-maintenance milestone.

Cisco IOS XE Software Release Schedule

Cisco IOS XE Software Release 3.10S is the first Extended-Support release under the new support timeline. Every subsequent third release (for example, Cisco IOS XE Software Releases 3.13S, 3.16S, etc.) will also be Extended-Support releases. Table 1 defines the support models used by each of the Cisco IOS XE Software releases.

Table 1. Cisco IOS XE Software Release Support

Support Model

Cisco IOS XE Software Release

Standard-Support

3.11S, 3.12S, 3.14S, 3.15S, etc.

Extended-Support

3.10S, 3.13S, 3.16S, etc.

End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Guideline Definition

The Cisco IOS XE Software end-of-sale and end-of-life guidelines have preset time intervals for each of the end-of-life milestones. These time intervals are based on the support model of the affected Cisco IOS XE Software version. Table 2 summarizes the end-of-sale and end-of-life milestones for Cisco IOS XE Software releases.

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release a software maintenance release in an affected Cisco IOS XE Software release. After this date, maintenance rebuilds and software-fix support will be provided only through subsequent major Cisco IOS XE Software releases until the end of software engineering maintenance support (end of vulnerability and security) date of the affected release.

Six months after end-of-sale date for Standard-Support releases.

Twelve months after end-of-sale date for Extended-Support releases.

End-of-vulnerability and security support date

The last date that Cisco Engineering may release a planned maintenance release or scheduled software remedy for a security vulnerability concern.

The last date to receive service and support for the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.

Five years after end-of-sale date for either Standard-Support or Extended-Support releases.

1An additional rebuild release may be released after the final rebuild date to address mission-critical, high-severity software fixes and security vulnerabilities (before the end-of-vulnerability and security date) on an as-needed basis at the discretion of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco IOS XE Software Standard-Support Schedule

Cisco IOS XE Software Standard-Support releases will be supported for 18 months with three rebuilds. The timing of the rebuilds will be as follows: 3 months, 3 months, and 6 months. Following the third rebuild will be a 6-month phase of PSIRT. During the PSIRT phase, if it is deemed that a fourth rebuild is required, then a scheduled rebuild will occur at the end of the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) period (6 months from the third rebuild). Table 3 and Figure 1 show the Cisco IOS XE Software Standard-Support rebuild schedule.

Table 3. Cisco IOS XE Software Standard-Support Rebuild Schedule

Milestone

Timing

Standard-Support rebuild 1

3 months after FCS

Standard-Support rebuild 2

6 months after FCS

Standard-Support rebuild 3

12 months after FCS

Optional Standard-Support rebuild 4

18 months after FCS if a scheduled rebuild is required

Figure 1. Cisco IOS XE Software Standard-Support Timeline

Cisco IOS XE Software Extended-Support Schedule

Cisco IOS XE Software Extended-Support releases will be supported for 48 months with eight rebuilds. The timing of the rebuilds will be as follows: 3 months, 3 months, 4 months, 4 months, 4 months, 6 months, 6 months, and 6 months. Following the eighth rebuild will be a 12-month phase of PSIRT. During the PSIRT phase, if it is deemed that additional rebuilds are required, then a scheduled rebuilds will occur 6 months into the PSIRT phase, or another at the end of the PSIRT phase. If it is deemed that these additional rebuilds are not required, then there will not be additional rebuilds. Table 4 and Figure 2 show the Cisco IOS XE Software Extended-Support rebuild schedule.

Table 4. Cisco IOS XE Software Extended-Support Rebuild Schedule

Milestone

Timing

Extended-Support rebuild 1

3 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 2

6 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 3

10 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 4

14 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 5

18 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 6

24 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 7

30 months after FCS

Extended-Support rebuild 8

36 months after FCS

Optional Extended-Support rebuild 9

42 months after FCS if a scheduled rebuild is required

Optional Extended-Support rebuild 10

48 months after FCS is a schedule rebuild is required

Figure 2. Cisco IOS XE Software Extended-Support Timeline

Upgrade Paths

Customers are encouraged to migrate to one of the Extended-Support releases (Cisco IOS XE Software Release 2.4, 3.1S, 3.4S, etc.) when the release becomes available with appropriate features for the applications.

Customer Notifications

Cisco will issue individual end-of-life bulletins for each software release affected by an end-of-life plan. Standard-Support releases will have an end-of-life announcement published at FCS. Extended-Support releases will have an end-of-life announcement published 18 months after FCS.

Cisco Services

Cisco offers a wide range of services programs to accelerate customer success. These innovative services programs are delivered through a unique combination of resources, processes, tools, and partners, resulting in high levels of customer satisfaction. Cisco Services help you protect your network investment, optimize network operations, and prepare your network for new applications to extend network intelligence and the power of your business. For more information about Cisco Services, refer to Cisco Technical Support Services at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/svcs/ps3034/serv_category_home.html or Cisco Advanced Services at:
http://www.cisco.com/go/services.